Harbhajan hails 'fantastic' Ponting

Mumbai Indians coach Ricky Ponting has received high praise from what would once have been considered the unlikeliest of sources – veteran off-spinner and former fierce rival Harbhajan Singh.

Harbhajan, nowadays plying his trade for Mumbai under the watchful eye of Ponting, has been impressed by the attitude of the Australian, who is currently experiencing his first season as a full-time professional head coach, and cited Ponting’s World Cup-winning experience as pivotal to the development of Mumbai youngsters.

"He is a very positive guy,” Harbhajan said. “(That’s) the way he played cricket throughout his career.

“He has been very positive about things whether you win or lose.

“He always says give your 100 per cent and that's what the boys are looking to do.

"The boys had lost four games and yet he stayed calm and composed.

“He has been fantastic with the team.

“Moreover, under Ponting's guidance, many youngsters like Unmukt Chand would help themselves to become a better cricketer, especially in the backdrop of his achievements of winning three World Cups for Australia.

"I hope under his guidance lot of youngsters will know how to bat in different situations, which will help them to become better cricketers.”

Not too long ago, Harbhajan and Ponting shared arguably the fiercest one-on-one rivarly in international cricket.

Their disaffection stretched back to 1998 when the two were involved in a minor altercation in a one-day international in Sharjah and since then, relations between the Indian off-spinner and the Aussie legend were famously bitter.

The two had sparred at each other on-field and in media interactions, while Harbhajan’s exemplary on-field record against Ponting only fuelled the rivalry.

The Indian spinner dismissed Ponting 10 times in Test cricket, including thrice for a duck.

Things did change, though, when Ponting joined the Mumbai Indians for the 2013 edition of the Indian Premier League and the pair appeared to hug and make up.

Case in point was Ponting’s catch of Unmukt Chand off the bowling of Harbhajan in a game in the 2013 IPL, following which the pair celebrated like long-lost friends.

Since, there seemed to be a gradual thaw in their relationship in the lead-up to Ponting being appointed the coach of the Mumbai Indians side, and the off-spinner’s had praise for his coach came after the side’s first win of the 2015 IPL.

Incidentally, the batsman from whom Ponting took that superb catch in 2013 off the bowling of Harbhajan, Chand, is currently in the Mumbai Indians' squad, and was one of the players instrumental in guiding them to that first victory.

Batting at three, Chand hammered a quick-fire fifty against Bangalore yesterday and in an interview with iplt20.com, praised the former Australian captain for his energy.

"Ricky is such a positive guy and so full of energy. He really boosts your morale, which is so important at this level. The best thing about Ricky is that if he believes in you, he backs you to the hilt," he told iplt20.com.

“I have been talking about technique to him as well but it is the conversations we have on the mental side of things that have really been helping me.

“He is a very good guy. But when we are training, he doesn’t like to mess around. He expects every individual to give their best and if we do that, he is happy. When we are not on the field, he is one of the most chilled out guys.

“He doesn’t talk about the game, which is a good thing. When we are out there, he expects nothing short of everything from us. It is only fair because he gives his 100 per cent all the time.”